Ellen Degeneres Pays Tribute to Prince With Footage of 2003 “Kiss” Performance

Ellen Degeneres paid tribute to Prince on Monday’s episode by sharing a few remarks and archival footage.

“You’ve heard me say it many times before, but the coolest part of having this job is that I get to meet incredible artists and heroes of mine and they perform right here in front of me,” she said. “Of all the bands and artists that I’ve had on the show there was no one like Prince.

“He was an artist, he was an icon, a genius, and he was kind enough to appear on my show in the very first season, in 2003, which you have to understand is a big deal because most stars wait to see if a talk show is going to be successful,” she continued. “They wait to see if it’s a cool thing to do before they say yes, so he did it on the first season, and it meant the world to me that he did that.”

Degeneres then shared clips from that 2003 appearance, in which the host asked the late musician about his fashion sense (“I’m not used to having women buy my shorts for me,” he told her) and revealed her personal copy of his first record.

“That’s why I’m here — she’s from the old school, she knows what’s up,” he told the audience of Degeneres before performing his 1986 song “Kiss.”

Watch the video below.

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